Margaret Parangosky
Admiral Margaret Orlenda Parangosky, (UNSCMID 03669271) was the Commander-in-Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence, the United Nations Space Command's military-intelligence division. Biography Born in 2461, Parangosky was described as short and aged, yet sharp and cold as ice. Despite her withered appearance, she was very powerful and deadly: Dr. Catherine Halsey was the only person who had ever crossed her and lived. Colonel James Ackerson considered her to be the most dangerous person in the UNSC. Parangosky was a rear admiral, and vice admiral by 2531, She was promoted to full admiral some time later. After the Battle of Groombridge-1830 in 2530, Admiral Preston Cole wrote a proposed emergency procedure that would slow down the Covenant from finding Earth. This proposal was approved by Parangosky and would later become known as the Cole Protocol. Early years Margaret Parangosky began her military career sometime in the 2480's. The first ship Parangosky served on was the UNSC Luytens for an unknown amount of time. Restriction of Onyx In 2511, Parangosky restricted the planet Onyx from the rest of the UNSC after Forerunner ruins were discovered on the surface of the planet that same year. She returned several times to check up on and report on the project; however, the project was eventually sidelined in 2525 so funding could go elsewhere. SPARTAN-III Program In 2531, Parangosky attended a meeting with Rear Admiral Ned Rich and Captain Aaron G. Gibson aboard the UNSC Point of No Return. During this meeting, Colonel Ackerson proposed the SPARTAN-III project, which would produce large numbers of expendable supersoldiers. Parangosky approved the creation of Alpha Company and authorized a plan in which Lieutenant, Junior Grade Kurt-051 would be abducted and put in charge of training the SPARTAN-IIIs. In 2537, Parangosky went aboard the Point of No Return to review the progress of the SPARTAN-III program and to authorize the formation of Beta Company, following the recent destruction of Alpha Company in Operation: PROMETHEUS. She considered Alpha Company's destruction "regrettable", but considered them heroes, and promoted Kurt from Lieutenant, Junior Grade to full Lieutenant for it. It is also possible that she further promoted him to Lieutenant Commander sometime later as well. Sometime prior to 2551, Kurt appealed to Parangosky to save Tom-B292 (who Colonel Ackerson wanted for his "special projects") and Lucy-B091 (who, because she had become mute due to posttraumatic vocal disarticulation was almost classified as "unfit for duty," and would have been reassigned to ONI's psych branch for "psychological evaluation") from reassignment, saying he needed Spartans to train Spartans. Parangosky allowed him to do this so they could help him train Gamma Company. Later career By 2552, Parangosky had risen to rank of four-star admiral and had been named the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence. She continued working aboard the Point of No Return, green-lighting some of humanity's most controversial projects. At one point, she adopted the "washed-out" SPARTAN-II candidate Serin Osman as her protégé, grooming her to be her successor. It was noted that Osman was a "granddaughter figure" to Parangosky, and one of the few people she cared about. Following the end of the war, Parangosky found herself at odds with members of the UEG and UNSC High Command over the Sangheili. While Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood and others believed that a peace treaty with Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and the Covenant separatists was desirable, Parangosky believed that keeping the Sangheili mired in internal dissent would leave them unable to threaten the weakened UNSC. In 2553, Parangosky assigned Osman to lead an intelligence team on a covert mission to sow dissent among the Sangheili, disguised as a diplomatic mission. She was also planning to wipe out the entire species and colonize Sanghelios itself. That being said, UNSC High Command insisted on maintaining a good relationship with the Sangheili and decided to place a UNSC Military base on Sanghelios on 04.15.2555 under the control and command of the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, who now insisted on being called General. Still insistent on destabilizing the Sangheili, she wanted to meet with General and led the inspection of the military base, named Swordfall Base. Wanting to still establish a good relationship with the UNSC, General pulled out all the stops, and became truly fearful of Parangosky. Consultant After her resignation as the director of ONI in 2558, Parangosky stayed on a consultant for ONI, but only as needed. For the most part, she enjoyed a quiet retirement somewhere far from the peering eyes of her constituency, appearing randomly and silently. Meanwhile, she continued to monitor the Sangheili and the other Covenant species, nervous that they might rise back up to attack humanity. She was especially cautious of General. She also continued to monitor and search Forerunner Ruins and in 2560, discovered an ancient set of armor hidden in a cave on Earth. She soon came to learn that the armor was the personal suit of The Librarian, and modified it to fit her. The Librarian's Armor was her prized possession, and was with her until her death. Rebellion and Death When the Overlords arrived in 2568, she was part of the UNSC High Command that met with the son of General, Draconus 'Vadam who insisted that no one fight the Overlords because it was a battle that no one would win. From that point on, she was an active member of the fledging Chaos Rebellion against the Overlords. On October 18, 2575, the Nyx attacked the Treeline Facility of the Rebellion, causing them to be routed. In the Librarian's Armor, Margaret Parangosky defended the Rebellion, giving them time to escape. She distracted Moros, the Nyx that led the assault, but however, was killed by him. Her efforts allowed the Rebellion to prosper, and her death was a sad loss. She died at the age of 114. Afterlife Due to the way that she lived her life, Parangosky was admitted to Hell. However, being the wily one, she managed to escape, finding her way to Zorona 'Vadam, the other son of General. She offered to help him destroy the monster that was plaguing him in exchange for him to return the Librarian's Armor to her. Zorona had already defeated Moros once, so she thought he could do it again. However, she did not realize that Zorona was friends with Mephistopheles, the deposed King of Hell, who stole her away. Instead of bringing her back to Hell, Mephistopheles had a better plan: he brought her soul to General and ordered him to torture her nonstop until she cracked. Not much remains of her soul now. What is left is a monster similar to the one that created her. Personality Parangosky's reputation within the UNSC stems not only from her powerful position as the head of ONI, but also from her intimidating force of will. She is shrewd and highly intelligent, and combined with her cold demeanor these qualities make her an imposing figure despite her age; Dr. Halsey regarded her as one of the few people that she was genuinely afraid of. Her usual persona was that of a curt, professional leader. However, the reputation surrounding her ruthlessness streak were well founded. As head of ONI, Parangosky held almost unlimited power within the UNSC to conduct espionage, order assassinations and coordinate high risk, top secret projects and operations. She was responsible, among other things, for authorizing Colonel James Ackerson's SPARTAN-III project, the SPARTAN-IV project, and was aware of the construction of the UNSC Infinity. Many viewed her as the true power operating behind the UNSC's military government. This could most clearly be seen by her initiative to destabilize Elite society on Sangheilios. This project was carried out despite the fact that Lord Admiral Hood, the de facto head of the UNSC during the final days of the war, was conducting high level peace negotiations with the Arbiter. Parangosky doubted that a single Elite, no matter how noble, could fully restrain Covenant splinter factions from waging war against humanity. Her world view was explained by her protege Serin Osman as, "It doesn't matter what your enemy's intentions are, only their capabilities." While her position has allowed her to authorize numerous programs that may be seen as ethically questionable, Parangosky has been shown to nonetheless possess a moral code. In her own view, she willingly played the part of devil's advocate, sacrificing the needs of the few for the many. The Admiral held no illusions that she held any sort of moral high ground. She viewed the SPARTAN-III project as a tragic necessity, sacrificing hundreds for potentially billions. After being informed of the use of flash cloning during the SPARTAN-II program, she demanded that Catherine Halsey answer for her use of the illegal technology. Although the Admiral had allowed the SPARTAN-II project to proceed, Parangosky believed that the use of flash clones, and the following trauma inflicted upon the families who watched their "children" sicken and die, was merely an attempt of Halsey to sooth her own conscience. Kidnapping in her mind was justified, lying to the public about the 'death' of the original Spartan candidates merely made matters worse. Parangosky bitterly remarked that as declassified information was slowly made public, many surviving families would come to know their dead children had in fact survived - only to have died fighting against the Covenant Empire. In her own version of Contrapasso or poetic justice, she declared Dr. Halsey, at that time an unofficial fugitive of the UNSC for misappropriating Spartan assets, as KIA. Just as her Spartan candidates had been stripped from everything they knew and declared dead, forced into a life of perpetual service, so too would Halsey. In her personal life Admiral Parangosky viewed Serin Osman as both an heir and, perhaps family. Serin was someone in whom she could mentor, advise, and be supported by in the harsh and brutal world of military intelligence. Appearance Margaret Parangosky is a woman who has seemed perpetually old for many years, but her age does not seem to stunt her dominating stature. She is a frightening woman and her increased age only seems to add to it. Her stooped height only adds to the whole, "Evil Grandma" mystique that she has going on. Relationships Doctor Halsey Parangosky has hated Catherine Halsey for years, as Halsey was the only one to ever cross her and survive. They don't really count as rivals, but they share just pure, unadulterated hatred for the other. General Since the first time that Parangosky met General, they have shared a strange relationship. In 2553, she tried to usurp him, fearing that the Sangheili having a single leader would eventually lead back to a war with humanity. A few years later when General opened his first UNSC base, Parangosky insisted on inspecting it. This was one of the few times that General showed real, true fear of another being. Later they shared a mutual respect for each other, until her death in 2575. She was brought before General and tortured beyond imagining. What remains is a husk, a dangerous monster. Serin Osman Parangosky's prodigy, Serin Osman was a SPARTAN-II that Parangosky hand-picked to be her successor for the Office of Naval Intelligence. Serin Osman is the closest that Parangosky ever had to having children. Others Parangosky has had little experience in relationships, prefering to keep to herself. That being said, she maintains a massive relationship with the entire Office of Naval Intelligence and all its staff, who all know and fear her. Trivia *Her name is seen on a memorial plaque inside the ONI Alpha Site on Earth. As the Halo Encyclopedia states that she was still alive and onboard the Point of No Return by 2553, and Parangosky is a major character in Halo: Glasslands, this is either simply an Easter egg or deliberate misinformation on the part of ONI. *She has stated her personal motto is "Strength through Paranoia."